By Nita Bhalla

KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka thought it must be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more cheaply, easily and efficiently using a pump fuelled by cotton waste.

"Who could believe it's possible to make a fuel much better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn't!" laughed Mathoka, crouching down to inspect the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri town in Kenya's southeast Kitui county.

"But it works," he stated, walking over to a neighboring tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. "Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has actually helped me get higher yields, specifically during dry spell durations."

Mathoka said his earnings had doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more efficient and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre less expensive than routine diesel.

The biodiesel he is utilizing is not simply great news for him - it is likewise great news for the world.

Unlike most biofuels, which are stemmed from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha curcas, it is made from a byproduct of the cotton-making process.

That indicates that in addition to being cleaner and less expensive than routine fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels due to the fact that no extra land is needed to produce it.

From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has driven forest communities off their land and pressed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more successful crops-for-fuel - worsening food shortages.

"Our biodiesel comes from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning - the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton," stated Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company producing the biodiesel.

"We began producing and utilizing it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now use it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses - and likewise to regional farmers for irrigation."

More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually so far invested in biodiesel pumps for watering as part of an effort launched by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.

DRY RIVER BEDS

Climate change is taking a toll throughout east Africa and progressively erratic weather is ending up being commonplace in nations such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rainfall.

The repeating dry spells are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals - pushing countless people in the Horn of Africa to the edge of extreme appetite.

The variety of Kenyans in need of food help in March surged by nearly 70 percent over a duration of 8 months to 1.1 million, mostly due to poor rains, according to federal government figures.

With nearly half Kenya's 47 counties stated to have a severe lack of rain, humanitarian firms are warning of increased appetite in the months ahead.

"Only light rains is anticipated through June ... and this is not expected to relieve drought in impacted locations of Kenya and Somalia," said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its newest report.

"Well below-average crop production, bad livestock body conditions, and increased regional food rates are anticipated, which will minimize poor homes' access to food."

In location, the signs are currently obvious.

Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as an outcome of the extended dry spell.

Villagers grumble of trekking longer ranges - often more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys packed with empty jerry cans looking for water.

Small-scale farmers, most of whom are dependent on rain-fed farming, discuss strategies to offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is bad.

BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL

But not all Kitui's farmers are worried.

A small however growing number are shedding their concern of reliance on the weather - and buying watering systems powered by Zaynagro's cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan introduced more than three years back.

Neighbouring farmers unite to purchase the watering system - which consists of the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel - at costs beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.

The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free monthly instalments until the total is settled. They purchase the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.

Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump permitted him to water a bigger portion of his one-acre plot, where he grows a variety of vegetables consisting of maize, tomatoes, spinach and sweet potatoes.

"With a diesel pump, maize yields were lower and I would get 15,000 shillings in three months. With the biodiesel pump, I can earn 45,000 shillings," stated Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo town, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Other farmers indicate the scheme as a significant benefit in assisting enhance their output.

"The instalment plan is excellent. Most farmers do not have the cash and can not quickly get a loan to buy a pump like this," stated Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to his blue biodiesel pump.

"Having a scheme like this helps us a lot. Our yields are excellent which indicates we can settle the expense of the pump gradually in small amounts, and have cash left over to pay the school charges."

Zaynagro's effort is still in its early stages, with few farmers having actually paid back the full expense of the pumps.

But such biofuel schemes are appealing due to the fact that they create a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for profit, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior associate for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.

The simplicity of the design - user friendly, robust technology, assured supply of biodiesel integrated with a pay-as-you-go scheme - could assist electrify rural Africa, he stated.

"There is a mosaic of sustainable energy alternatives on the planet. The essential concern is evaluating concepts and methods in a collective fashion," said Sanyal.

"Other cotton ginning factories in the area ought to attempt and discover from this experiment. Financial institutions must start explore loans to groups of farmers. International donors and financiers require to support experimentation."

($1 = 101.3000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla, Editing by Claire Cozens. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, ladies's and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, property rights and environment change. Visit http://news.trust.org)